NEWS
Summer 2006
JECEI: NOT JUST ANOTHER ACRONYM
No matter what part of the country I am visiting, people are always asking ěWhat is JECEI? What can JECEI do for me that no one else has done before?î This is exciting to hear, and the longer JECEI is at work, the clearer the definition becomes. JECEIís immediate mission is to develop a unique model and brand of Jewish early childhood education that offers unsurpassed excellence in education for both children and parents and ignites families on a life-long journey of Jewish living and learning.
(Proverbs 22:6)
Excellence is a big term and in order to turn it into something tangible and helpful, JECEI works as a multi-tiered organization immersed in teaching, research, field work, dissemination, support, and community building. For each arena we work in, JECEI believes in employing those who are not only the most advanced in the field, but also the most passionate and energetic in what they do. For example, the JECEI research team consists of some of the best minds and philosophies in early childhood education from around the world. Sitting at our table are the great thinkers from Harvard University, Columbia Teachersí College, Bank Street College of Education, Tufts University and others.
Central to both our research and our field work is the understanding that the early childhood center must encompass the most progressive and up-to-date best practices for teaching young children in the context of a school and its community. A school is not its own entity. A good center must envelop families and the entire community. This means that no two schools will look exactly alike, and these differences should be nurtured and embraced.
The JECEI model takes these ideas of Early Childhood best practices and then filters them through a Jewish lens. This lens is created out of foundational Jewish values that are meaningful to todayís young Jewish families, values that are so embedded in our daily Jewish lives that they seem natural. Once these Jewish values are recognized as a visible part of everyday life, a yearning for continued Jewish life is also created and it is this desire that is the heart of the JECEI initiative. JECEI schools will house on-going and serious study of this Jewish framework for parents and in the area of professional development for teachers and staff as well as sessions for parents of pre-schoolers.
JECEIís , listed below, are actively committed to a covenant with the Jewish people of North America that ensures the survival of healthy, engaged, and committed Jewish families for our future. We are grateful to them for their vision, their clarion call to action, and their generous financial support.
My hope is that, through our newsletters, we will be able to keep in touch with our colleagues in the field, as well as stimulate conversations and questions that will continue to lead us on a path of reflection, growth, change, and ultimately excellence in all aspects of the field of Jewish Early Childhood Education.
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NOT JUST ANOTHER ACRONYM : Summer 2006 Newsletter